By 1908 Oklahoma was a state. In 1893 the Chickasaw lands were open to white settlement. Whether they were "Indian" could hinge on when they arrived in Thackerville. If it was after 1893 it doesn't mean someone wasn't just means they might not have been or could be of another tribe/nation. As for the question of who built the towns, most all of them would have been established by 1893. Some could have been started and built by the white settlers. <quote> Non-Chickasaw required a permit to reside in Chickasaw Nation, but this requirement was usually ignored. By 1900 there were 300,000 whites in the Indian Territory, 150,000 of whom were in the Chickasaw Nation. The 6,000 Chickasaw had become a minority in their own country. However, the land was still theirs, but even this came under attack. In 1887 Congress passed the Dawes Act mandating the breakup of Native American lands into individual allotments with the excess to be sold to whites. Protected by their treaties, the Chickasaw and other Civilized Tribes were immune to the law's provisions, but additional Congressional legislation in 1893 attempted to include them. This was initially rejected, but with the passage of the Curtis Act in 1895 dissolving their tribal governments, the Choctaw and Chickasaw finally agreed in 1897. With allotment in 1901, the Chickasaw became citizens of the United States and were allowed to vote. <unquote> On 10/20/2011 10:51 PM, donkelly wrote: > Velma Gladys Pruitt born 1908 Thackerville, south of Ardmore, Oklahoma -- "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for dinner. Liberty is a well-armed lamb." - Benjamin Franklin - _ _... ..._ _ _._ ._ ..... ._.. ... .._